Which Dehumidifier-?

Jock89

Jock89

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'Afternoon all,
Living aboard through this weather is producing an horrendous amount of condensation & it's starting to aggravate me considerably. I'm going to have to invest in a dehumidifier tomorrow.
Compact/Portable-reliable-permanently drain-able-not too heavy on juice.
Which unit has the best reports for reliability & is there a clear favourite amongst liveaboards.?

TiA...Jock
 
I recently researched Dehumidifiers & bought a "Ruby Dry". This is an absorption type & works effectively even at low temperatures when the more common compressor types lose efficiency. Absorption types use more power but overall save energy because of their greater efficinecy. Hope that helps.
 
Just bought one from the local electrical shop for £85 .Dont know the make but what a difference onboard !! On a 30footer it removes about 2ltrs a day and comsumes 250w . Just dial in humidity% required and away it goes once % reached it cuts out . Cheep and cheerful to buy and run . I can find the manufacture if required.
 
In the UK, where it is cold in winter, I think that the dessicant types are best though we used compressor types for years. They tend to ice up, though. I needed to buy a new compressor one a few weeks ago in Rome -- a very basic 200W unit cost from Leroy Merlin cost me €65. Works fine.
 
It's nice to be able to recommend a British firm - my experience has been that Ebac produce consistently the "best" de-humidifiers.

They're all compressor models, ranging from about 150watts to 3kW.

I've had a couple on almost continuously for for 8-19 years - one of these was bought for <£100 in one of the "sheds"

Those who are wondering - I have a house, built in 1723, with a cellar (frequently below the water table) and no damp-course. The (usually) 2 dehumidifiers are extracting about 12l/day in the summer and about 5l/day at this time of year.
The cellar is kept at a pretty constant 47-51% relative humidity.
 
Google ' X-Dry '. Light, quiet, fantastic. It's the dessicant type so more efficient at removing water and it exhausts warm air as well. Well worth paying slightly more for (I think you can get one for about £185).
 
Re: According to my

I have owned the following;

http://www.dry-it-out.com/wdh-122hgd-wdh122hgd-dehumidifier

for 5 years and a bone dry boat. It has a hot gas defrost so it works down to 0 degrees and I also have a small greenhouse heater with a frost stat on the boat. If you do get this unit, ask them for thin surgical hose to bypass the water chamber and drain into the galley sink. Standard hose will not easily fit due to the rather limited access.

I also close the boat air vents and we now go down to a dry boat every time. The unit is not that small but it works brilliantly

Regards,

Stewart
 
I have been through this selection process in the last week and I spoke to ebac on the phone. They dont have a dehumidifer that has hot gas defrost or that does a cold start so the unit can be run from a time switch or used at near freezing temperatures such as we have at the moment.
Once the boat is dry you dont need to run the unit continuously, just a couple of hours every day is sufficient, so a time switch can save a lot of electricity.
In the end the unit I chose that would work down to 0 deg C, has continuous drain and will start up automatically after a power cut or time switch is the Prem-I-air Xdry here
 
We have an Amber-Dry (same as the Ruby-Dry) dessicant dehumidifier. Light-weight but as others have said does use more power, under 300w on low setting, so useful for some background warmth to guard against frost. The new version, X-Dry, does look better in that it auto-starts after a power failure (as reported elsewhere here), which the Ruby and Amber don't.
 
Thanks to all for the comments, & I've checked out the links you all gave me. Prices are a bit stiff for the better ones aren't they.!
Might try a cheaper one 1st-(i.e: £70-£80)-then if it doesn't do what I want I'll sell it & buy a top spec' version.
Jock
 
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